Randy Miller

Published January 27, 2015

Forge has truly been life changing for me. I started at Forge at the beginning of August and have to say it has been the best experience as far a gym is concerned for me. Prior to joining, about the only exercise I was doing was the occasional run and telling my friends that I would meet them for a workout that I would find some sort of excuse not show up to. I was the type of person that just didn’t like to work out or go to the gym. I wanted to be in good shape, but honestly couldn’t find it to be enjoyable at all.

When I first walked into Forge and saw others working out my first impression was wow, I can’t imagine being able to do anything they are doing and I thought about turning around and walking right out the door. Soon after I was greeted by Chris and he started to ask me what my goals were and explained to me that they could scale the workouts to my level, but that he knew he could get me to do what the others in the gym were doing. I have to admit that I had doubts, I just had never been successful at going to a gym, nor could I stay committed.

The first class Chris took extra time with myself and several others that were brand new to Cross Fit and worked with us on form and movements. We did a warm-up and my thought about the warm-up was that it was more than I had done in my workouts and this was going to be quite the challenge to actually do a work-out. We did our workout and I left knowing I had done more in that workout than I had done in almost 15 years. Day two came and I found myself back at Forge, the only difference was that I was sore, but excited about returning. I had never had the type of excitement about going to the gym and it was a very strange feeling for me. When I returned I was greeted again by Chris and Rich as well as others that had been there the day before and they all were excited to see myself and the others that were new return. As the first week progressed and the workouts progressed I found myself excited to the point of not being able to wait to get back to the gym. I was so excited about our workouts it was all I could think about and talk about to the point of a co-worker deciding that she had to check it out. It was so intense, but I absolutely enjoyed the workouts. When Friday came along I was enjoying the workouts so much I actually asked Chris what could I do over the weekend as far as a workout and he and Rich politely said rest up for next week.

So here I come in for week two with the expectations that we would be doing some more entry level workouts. To my surprise, Chris informs us that we will be warming up with the class as well as working out with the class. I was quite nervous at this point because just a week prior I was looking around the room knowing that there was no way I could do what they were doing and now I am being expected to join them. I let Chris know that I couldn’t do what they were doing and Chris responded that the expectation wasn’t that I do what they were doing, but that I learn the form and movements and that they would scale the workouts to my level and really work with me to get me comfortable. I had never had this approach before and am grateful that this was offered to me. I quickly found out there were many more workouts that I could do if I just tried them at a scaled level.

Fast forward to four months later. I can honestly say that I am the strongest I have ever been in my life, not just physically, but mentally. Each day/week I learn a new skill and I mark a new achievement in my workouts. Not only am I excited about working out, but I miss it when I can’t go for a day. Recently I was on vacation for 10 days and actually found myself working out while on vacation, this was a first for me. I have lost 17lbs so far and all of my clothes fit much different than they did previously. I owe it to the great people at Forge and want to give a heartfelt thank you to all of you. You are truly creating a community at Forge and your dedication to health and fitness is amazing and appreciated.